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FIDE Candidates 2016 - Video Recap Round 5

Opening: A77: Benoni

Player(s): Caruana, Aronian

GM Jon Speelman and IM John Watson recap Round 5. For the first time in the Candidates' tournament, all the games finished in a draw. But it wasn't a dull day in Moscow. Aronian vs. Caruana was quite an interesting game. Fabiano finally got to play his Benoni, which seems like he's been trying to for a while, according to what he said in a post-game interview: " I've been trying to play the Benoni for a while, but nobody lets me!". Aronian let him, and the game went on following the classical variation for the Benoni, with 9...Re8, 10.Nd2. Later in the game Aronian sacrificed a pawn, but it seemed at least dubious. Caruana had to allow a repetition, when Aronian was a whole lot of material down after going all-in for the attack, sacrificing material for the center. Probably Fabiano didn't find a safe way to avoid it. Topalov put up a stubborn fight against the leader Karjakin, but the game didn't offer much for neither player to try, despite the exciting play. Giri found himself with a slight edge against Peter Svidler, but it took the young Hollander a bit too much time, and he allowed a repetition at move 26. Anand wasn't able to get anything out of the opening, and his game vs. Nakamura drifted rapidly to be a rather "normal" draw. Tomorrow Round 6: Anand-Svidler, Topalov-Giri, Aronian-Nakamura and Caruana-Karjakin. The four draws leave the standings unchanged, with Karjakin leading by half a point over Aronian; Caruana, Giri, Anand and Svidler share 3-6 a full point from the leader; Nakamura and Topalov trail way behind.